Mezzo; an Italian adjective,which means half, and is often used in musical language, as mezzo forte, mezzo piano, mezzo voce, which imply nearly the same thing, viz. a middle degree of piano or soft.Mezzo soprano; a pitch of voice between the soprano or treble and counter-tenor.

MEZZOFANTE, abbate; the most distinguished linguist of our age, as to the ability of speaking numerous languages. His acquaintance with languages is immense. He speaks and writes fluently not less than eighteen ancient and modern languages, and twenty-two different dialects of Europe. Lord Byron (see Moore's work) calls professor Mezzofante "a monster of languages, the Briareus of parts of speech, a walking polyglot, and, more, who ought to have existed at the time of the tower of Babel, as universal interpreter." Mezzofante is professor of Greek in the university of Bologna, and was appointed, in 1831, to the high office of apostolic prothonotary by the pope.

MEZZOTINTO. (See Engraving.)

Mi; one of the six monosyllables adapted by Guido to his hexachords, and which was applied to the third and seventh notes of the natural diatonic scale.

MIAMI OF THE LAKES. (See Maumee.) MIAMI CANAL. (See Canals, and Inland Navigation.)

MIAMI; a river of Ohio, which rises in Hardin county, and runs south-westerly into the Ohio river at the south-west corner of the state. Its length is about 100 miles. Its navigation is not easy, but it affords numerous sites for mills and manufactories.

MIAMI, LITTLE; a river which rises in Madison county, Ohio, and runs in a southwesterly direction about 100 miles, and falls into the Ohio river seven miles above Cincinnati. It is one of the best mill-streams in this state, but affords little navigation.

MIAMI UNIVERSITY. (See Oxford.) MIASMA (from the Greek piacua, any thing polluting); a term used in the doctrine of contagious and epidemic diseases, with different meanings. Some authors use it precisely like contagion; with others it signifies the contagious matter of chronic diseases; with others, that contagious matter which collects in the atmosphereflying contagion. Some understand by miasma, the vehicle of contagion; for instance, the pus of small-pox, which contains the proper contagious matter. Miasma also signifies certain matter, in the atmosphere, owing its origin to putrefied animal or vegetable bodies, or to the exhalation of animal bodies, and producing specific dis

eases. It would be well to contradistinguish miasma from contagion, and designate by the former term all the poisonous matter of diseases, which is not generated in living animal bodies, but has, in some other way, entered the atmospheric air. One of the most powerful correctors of miasmatic effluvia is chloride of lime, which is getting much into use among navigators and other persons exposed to such effluvia.

MIAULIS, Andrew Vokos, a native of Hydra, was originally a poor sailor, who gained some property by his boldness and activity in the coasting trade. During the wars of the French revolution and those of Napoleon, he carried on a commerce with the French and Spanish ports in spite of the English cruisers, built the first ship at Hydra (q. v.), but was shipwrecked on a voyage to Portugal, with the loss of all his fortune. He, however, recovered from his losses, and was held in great esteem by his countrymen. Though averse to beginning the struggle for Greek freedom, at the moment when it was commenced, the first blow was no sooner struck, than he embarked heartily in the cause, and has ever been foremost in exposing himself, in sacrificing his fortune, and in giving an example of obedience to the government, and of disinterestedness. "Such is the man," says Howe (Greek Revolution), "who commanded the Greek fleet; and so irreproachable is his charac ter, that even in Greece, where the people are so suspicious of their leaders, no voice is ever raised against Miaulis." As admiral of the Greek fleet, in 1823, 24, 25, 26, he displayed the greatest coolness, cour age and prudence, and soon became the terror of the Turks. (See Greece, Revobution of) Miaulis is now (1831) about 63 years old.

MICA. (See Appendix, end of this vol.) MICAH, the sixth of the minor prophets, was a Morasthite, of the tribe of Juda. He prophesied in the reigns of Jotham. Ahaz and Hezekiah, from 749 to 679 B. C. Nothing is known of his life or death. His prophecy is directed against Samaria and Jerusalem, whose sufferings, he declares, shall be greater than those of Babylon and the other gentile cities. The village of the Savior's birth is designated by him (v. 2)-" But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, little among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall come forth a ruler in Israel, whose generation is of old, from everlasting." His style is pure and correct, his images bold, his denunciations full of strength and bitterness.

MICHAEL (Hebrew, he who is equal to God) is spoken of in Daniel (x, 13 and 21, xii, 1) as one of the "chief princes," and the "great prince." In Jude (v, 9), he is called the " archangel who disputed with the devil about the body of Moses." In the Revelation (xii, 7), it is said "there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon." From this expression, it has been inferred that he was the chief of the celestial hierarchy; and it is in this character that the Catholic church pays him religious honors. Milton (vi) calls him "of celestial armies prince," and "prince of angels," and attributes to him the command of the heavenly forces in the war with Satan.

MICHAEL, St. (S. Miguel), the largest of the Azores, was discovered in 1444, and taken possession of by Cabral, in the name of Portugal, to which power it now belongs; lat. 37° 50′ N.; lon. 30° 30′ W.; 25 leagues S. E. from Terceira. In the interior it is mountainous, some of the peaks rising to a height of more than 7000 feet, and evidently of volcanic origin. Earthquakes are frequent, and the soil is in many places composed of volcanic products. In the valleys it is fertile, and produces corn, potatoes, oranges, grapes, peaches, and plums. The coasts abound with fish, and there are many mineral springs in the interior. The climate is mild and agreeable. The commerce is considerable, principally with England, Portugal and the U. States. The population is about 80,000; capital, Ponta Delgada. (See Azores, and Portugal. See also Webster's Description of St. Michael, Boston, 1821.) In August last (1831), the troops of dona Maria took possession of St. Michael.

MICHAELIS, John David; professor at Göttingen, a celebrated theologian and Orientalist, born at Halle, Feb. 27, 1717, where his father, Christian Benedict, was a distinguished professor of the same branches. John David received his first instruction from his father, and afterwards studied in the orphan house a Halle. After taking his degrees, he made a journey to England and Holland, where he formed connexions with several learned individuals in London and Oxford, and in Leyden. After his return to his native country, he prosecuted his studies with great ardor, and, in consequence of the death of professor Ludwig, was intrusted with the preparation of a catalogue raisonné of the Halle university library. Through the influence of the baron von Münchhausen, Michaelis, in 1745, was

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made professor of philosophy at Göttingen, where, in 1751, he was appointed, with Haller, to draw up the constitution of the new royal society of sciences, of which he was secretary and director, until some differences with one of his colleagues induced him to resign his posts and leave the society. From 1753 to 1770, he was one of the editors of the Göttingen Literary Notices, and from 1761 to 1763, was librarian to the university. After the death of Gesner (1761), he undertook the direction of the philological seminary, from which so many eminent philologians have proceeded. During the troubles of the seven years' war, Michaelis was employed in making preparations for an exploring expedition into Arabia, which was afterwards undertaken by Niebuhr, and which contributed many important explanations to obscure passages of scripture. died in 1791. His labors in biblical criticism and history are of great value. His principal works are Mosaisches Recht (6 vols.; second edition, 5 vols., 177680, translated into English, under the title of Commentaries on the Laws of Moses); Introductions to the Study of the Old and New Testaments (the latter has been translated by Marsh); Spicilegium Geogr. Hebræorum; Translations of the Old and New Testaments, with grammatical and lexicographical productions. Heyne and Eichhorn have furnished tributes to his memory, and he himself left an autobiography.

He

MICHAUD, Joseph, a member of the French academy, and a man of some literary fame, well known as a violent partisan of the Bourbons, was born in 1771, and, in 1791, went to Paris, where he immediately began to write in the royalist journals. He was obliged to conceal himself during the reign of terror; and, under the directorial government, he was several times imprisoned, and was once condemned to death by a military commission. At the time of his condemnation, he was the editor of the Quotidienne. He took flight, but, the sentence being subsequently annulled, he returned. After the 18th of Fructidor, he was among the persons who were ordered to be transported to Cayenne, but he contrived again to escape, and found a refuge in the mountains of the Jura. Of these events he has given an amusing account in a poem, entitled the Spring of a Proscribed Man. During the reign of Napoleon, M. Michaud was the secret agent of Louis XVIII, and the count D'Artois.

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He, however, celebrated the marriage of the emperor and Maria Louisa, in a poem called the Thirteenth Book of the Eneid, or the Marriage of Æneas and Lavinia. Napoleon, nevertheless, who suspected him to be an enemy, would never grant him any favor. Louis XVIII appointed him one of his supplementary readers, censor-general of the journals, and officer of the legion of honor. After the second abdication of the emperor, M. Michaud was elected a member of the chamber of deputies, but sat during only one session. He is the author of many pamphlets and poems, and of a Literary Journey to Mount Blanc, and in some Picturesque Parts of Savoy; History of the Empire of Mysore (2 vols.); the History of the Crusades, (7 vols.); and of a great number of articles in the Universal Biography. In 1830, he set out on an expedition to the East, in order to visit the places memorable in the crusades, preparatory to a new edition of his history.

MICHAUD, Louis G., younger brother of Joseph Michaud, served in the army, and attained the rank of captain during the early campaigns of the revolution; but, in 1797, gave up his commission, in order to settle at Paris, as a partner with M. Giguet in the printing business. He and his partner being royalists, their press was frequently employed in printing papers sent to them by Louis XVIII and his brother; and, for an offence of this kind, M. Michaud, in 1799, suffered three months' imprisonment in the Abbaye. After the restoration, M. Michaud became king's printer. In 1816, however, he lost his place, in consequence of his having printed various publications hostile to the charter. Michaud is the author of a Historical View of the first Wars of Napoleon (2 vols.), and is the publisher of the celebrated Biographie Universelle (Paris, 1811 -1828), to which there were over 300 contributors. Michaud is the author of numerous articles.

MICHAUX, André, a celebrated traveller and botanist, born at Sartory, near Versailles, in 1746, was early led by the example of his father and his own inclinations to devote himself to agricultural pursuits, but at the same time did not neglect to cultivate the sciences and polite literature. The loss of his wife, soon after an early marriage, interrupted his prospects of domestic happiness, and carried him to Paris, where he became acquainted with Lemonnier, and acquired a taste for botany. He attended the lectures of Jussieu, and, in 1780, visited Auvergne, the

Pyrenees and Spain, in company with Delamarck and Thouin, on a botanical excursion. In 1782, Lemonnier obtained for him permission to accompany Rousseau, who was appointed Persian consul, to Persia, and after spending two years in those parts, Michaux returned with a fine collection of plants and seeds. In 1785, he was sent to America for the purpose of sending out trees and shrubs for the establishment at Rambouillet, landed at New York, and visited New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, &c. In 1787, he formed a new establishment at Charleston for the procuring and preserving plants, and visited Georgia, Florida, the Bahamas, &c. In 1792, he examined the more northern parts of the continent, to the vicinity of Hudson's bay. The two gardens which he had established at New York and Charleston were now in a flourishing condition, and had done much towards advancing arboriculture in the U. States. Soon after his return to Philadelphia, Michaux was sent to Louisiana by the French government on a public mission, and, in July, 1793, crossed the Alleghanies, and descended the Ohio, The project in relation to which he had been sent having been abandoned, he returned, in December, to Philadelphia, by the way of Virginia. The next year, he again crossed the mountains, and examined the western parts of the U. States. The difficulties which he had to encounter in these expeditions may be easily imagined. In 1796, he returned to Europe, was shipwrecked on the coast of Holland, but saved the greater part of his valuable collection, and, on his arrival in Paris, found that out of 60,000 stocks which he had sent out to Rambouillet, only a very small number had escaped the ravages of the revolution. Michaux was unable to obtain the arrears of his salary for seven years, or any employment from the government, and occupied himself in preparing materials for his works on North America. In 1800, however, he was attached to the expedition of Baudin to New Holland; but, after visiting Teneriffe and the Isle of France, he left the party, and went to Madagascar, where he soon after died of a fever (November, 1802). His works are Histoire des Chênes de l'Amérique Septentrionale (Paris 1801, folio, with 36 plates, representing 20 species and 16 varieties); and Flora Boreali-Americana (2 vols., 8vo, 1803, with 52 plates, comprising 1700 plants, and about 40 new genera).

MICHAUX, François André, son of the

preceding, is the author of the North American Sylva (5 vols., 8vo., Philadelphia, 1817, 150 colored engravings); and of Travels in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee (London, 1805). (See North American Review, vol. xiii.)

MICHEL ANGELO, or MICHELANGELO. (See Angelo.)

MICHIGAN; a territory of the U. States. This territory may be viewed in two as pects one, as presented by its political limits, established by the acts of congress of January, 1805, and April, 1818; the other as exhibited by the natural boundaries by which it will probably be defined when it enters the confederacy; and known by the appropriate and more usual designation of Michigan Proper. The whole extent of country called Michigan, lies between 41° 38′ 58′′ and 48° 37 N. lat., and 82° 15', and nearly 95° W. lon. from Greenwich. That portion lying W. of 87° 10′ lon., comprises the extensive district attached to Michigan, and contemplated to be set off and organized as a new territory. This latter region, bordering east on lake Michigan, north on lake Superior (nearly half of which it embraces), and the chain of small lakes connecting that Mediterranean with the heads of the Mississippi, and west and northwest on the Upper Mississippi, has been little explored. Judging from known portions of it, however, it must gradually assume, as its resources are developed by the progress of improvement, great interest and importance. The country included between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, and the western shore of lake Michigan, bears a highly inviting character. The soil is a rich, black alluvial, irrigated by innumerable veins of water. The face of the country is unbroken by hills of any magnitude. From its northern extremity south to the Milwalky and the heads of Rock river, it is covered with a dense forest, opening, as traced farther down to the southern bend of lake Michigan,into fertile and extensive prairies. It is not marked by that sterility which usually distinguishes mineral regions. Explorers have noticed, as a feature of geological interest, the entire absence of pebbles upon the surface of these prairies, and to a depth of two or three feet. The succeeding stratum is of clay. More than 36,000,000 pounds of lead were yielded, by the mining district, from the autumn of 24 to that of 29. The southern shore of lake Superior affords strong indication of copper. By the treaty of Prairie du Chien, 1829, the U. States purchased of the

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Winnebagoes, Chippewas, Ottawas and Potawatamies, a tract of about 6,000,000 acres of land, of which 2,300,000 are supposed to be within the limits of the contemplated territory. About 132,000 in the vicinity of Green bay have also been ceded. The former cession comprehends nearly all the mining district of the Upper Mississippi. It is occupied principally by the Winnebago, Chippewa and Sioux tribes of Indians. The white population, confined chiefly to Green bay and the mining district, is estimated at 6000. Military posts are established at Green bay, Prairie du Chien, fort Snelling, on the St. Peters, and fort Winnebago, at the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers. Settlements are formed, more or less extensive, at Green bay; Pembina, on Red river of lake Winnepeg; Prairie du Chien, on the Mississippi, and the lead mine, bounding on the Mississippi and Wisconsin. Michigan Proper lies between 41° 38′ 58′′ and 46° 50′ N. lat., and 82° 15 and 87° 10′ W. lon., and is bounded N. by lake Superior, E. by St. Mary's river, lake Huron, St. Clair river, lake St. Clair, Detroit river, and lake Erie; S. by Ohio and Indiana; and W. by a line dividing lake Michigan N. and S. to Big Beaver island; and thence running due N. to the national boundary in lake Superior. These limits comprehend about 60,500 square miles, of which a third, perhaps, is covered with water. They comprise two peninsulas:-the larger, being the peninsula of Michigan, bounded E. by lakes Erie, St. Clair and Huron, and W. by lake Michigan, containing about 36,000 square miles; the smaller, bounded S. by the straits of Mackinac, E. by the river St. Mary, N. by lake Superior; containing about 2000 square miles. The former is about 280 miles long, N. and S., and from 180 to 200 broad, E. and W. From the base of the peninsula, as far N. as Grand and Saginaw rivers, the country has been ceded by the Indians. The jurisdiction of Michigan extends over all the territory of the U. States E. of the Mississippi and N. of Illinois. As generally indicating its geological and mineralogical character, we may remark, that the rock is covered with a bed of alluvial earth, from 30 to 150 feet deep. The rocks belong to the secondary class. The strata, in the southern part of the territory, are supposed to dip S. E. at an angle of about 4° with the horizon. Ferriferous sand rock, saliferous rock, and mill-stone grit, are found alternating on the surface, at various points in the middle and western parts of the peninsu